chapter 15

If Colin's mother had brought a stranger into her home, she'd have offered him coffee.

Orin would have offered him a beer. Colin himself would have offered any visitor a

choice of whatever beverages he had on hand. It wasn't about the drink itself, and it sure

wasn't about hydration. It was about hospitality, a gesture that indicated the visitor was

welcome in your home.

That was probably why Drew McCray didn't offer him anything—not even a seat.

Drew perched his butt on the edge of the sofa in the living room of his little house

and left Colin and Julia standing there awkwardly. At least, Colin thought it was

awkward. Julia, as Drew's older sister, simply scowled at the man as older sisters are

known to do.

"Colin, please sit down," Julia said, throwing Drew a judgmental look out of the

corner of her eye.

Colin nodded and sat in a chair facing Drew. Julia sat on the sofa a foot from Drew

—where she could either comfort him or bring him into line as the situation warranted,

Colin imagined.

With his wet overcoat draped over the side of his chair—Drew lacked even the

social skills to offer to hang it up—Colin launched into the purpose of his visit.

"If you know why I'm here, then you know about the inheritance." Colin thought it

best to start with the money—no one could remain cold and distant to someone who was

offering them wealth beyond their greatest expectations. At least, he didn't see how they

could.

Drew managed it.

"I don't want your money," he said.

"Drew, don't be stupid," Julia said. There was that big sister–little brother dynamic

at play.

"I don't want it, Jules," Drew said, turning to her. "Redmond didn't acknowledge me

while he was alive, so I don't want anything to do with his money or his family now. I

can take care of myself. I don't need my so-called father's money."

"Because you've been doing a stellar job of taking care of yourself this far," Colin

put in. It was a bold play, but, hell. The situation called for boldness.

"What did you tell him?" Drew demanded, glaring at Julia.

"She didn't have to tell me anything," Colin said. "When I showed up at her door,

she thought I was a debt collector. That pretty much said it all."

The defiant look in Drew's eye changed into something that might have been a shame.

"I've had some financial problems. Some setbacks. But I'll get back on my feet."

"Sure," Colin said. "It'd be quite a bit easier to get back on your feet if you had an

inheritance to boost you up. Wouldn't it?"

"I don't want it." The steely, screw you glare was back, and something about it made

Colin wants to help Drew whether he was willing to accept that help or not. Because the

glare had a story behind it, and Colin thought that story might have something to do with

what it meant to be a man.

"I haven't even told you how much," Colin said.

That got through.

Drew's eyes narrowed. He didn't want to ask, Colin could see that clearly. But he

couldn't help himself. Hell, who could?

"All right. How much?" A muscle in Drew's jaw ticked.

"I'll have to liquidate some assets, in accordance with Redmond's will. There's

some real estate. And the shares in the family's corporation fluctuate in value according

to the markets. But I can give you a ballpark figure." He named the figure.

Drew's face blanched.

"Holy fuck," he said.

Colin leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. "You still want to

turn it down?"

Drew put a hand over his mouth, then rubbed at the stubble on his chin. "Holy fuck,"

he said again.

Julia looked as pale as her brother, as though she might topple off of her seat on the

sofa. "I knew it was a lot, but … I didn't … Oh, my God."

Colin seemed to be the only one in the room still fully in charge of his faculties. The

Delaney money wasn't news to him, and neither was the fact that the very concept of it

was a lot to take in if you weren't used to it.

"Look," he said, leaning toward Drew with his elbows propped on his knees. "The

money, the property, the shares—it's all yours. Redmond left it to you. If you don't want

it, there's nothing that says you couldn't give it back. Or give it to someone else. Or

donate it to charity. But you might want to sleep on it."

Drew seemed frozen in place. He didn't respond to what Colin was saying to him; he

simply sat there, looking like he might suddenly puke on his area rug.

Colin stood. He retrieved a business card from his wallet and placed it on the coffee

table in front of Drew.

"When you recover the power of speech, you might want to give me a call. There's

going to be a lot to think about, and I can help you." He put his coat on and shoved his

hands into the pockets. "And for the record, if you think my family didn't want anything

to do with you, that's just plain wrong. We didn't know about you. Redmond knew, and

he didn't claim you, and that's on him. But the rest of the family had no idea you existed.

If we had, we sure as hell would have wanted to know you. I still do."

Colin nodded at the card on the table.

"Think about it, and call."

He looked at Julia. "You ready?"

Julia, who still looked stunned, nodded. "Uh … yes. Yeah." She stood, grabbed her

coat, and put it on.

They were about to leave when Julia stopped, rushed back to where Drew was

sitting, and impulsively grabbed her brother into her arms. Drew clung to her and

murmured something into her ear.

Colin turned away, not wanting to intrude on what was obviously a personal moment

between them.

After a while, she released her brother, and she and Colin went back out into the

light and steady rain.

Julia didn't speak on the way back to the B&B, and Colin didn't push it. The figure

he'd named had effectively short-circuited her brain, Colin figured, and it would take a

while to get the neurons firing again.

When they did, she'd have a lot to process. So would Drew.

Of course, Drew was going to accept the inheritance, regardless of the show he'd

made of being a self-sufficient man who could solve his own problems. He had his pride,

but he wasn't crazy. At least, Colin didn't think he was.

But integrating Drew into the family financially was one thing, and it probably

wasn't even the important thing.

Even if the guy had pretty much acted like a dick so far, Colin wanted to know him.

This was his cousin; this was Redmond's son. Colin wanted all of them—Drew and all of

the Delaneys—to find a way forward as a family. Redmond had made that hard through

his decades of silence. But that didn't mean it was impossible. That didn't mean it was

too late to make amends.

When Colin and Julia arrived back at the B&B, Julia stood on the sidewalk in the

rain, unmoving, as Colin headed toward the shelter of the inn.

"You coming?" he asked her.

She was silent for a moment, the gentle rain coming down on her, soaking her.

"Can I … Do you mind if I borrow the car?" she said. "I just … I need to be alone

for a little while. To think."

Colin fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.

"You're going back to talk to Drew," he said. It wasn't a question, and she didn't

answer.

He placed the keys in the palm of her gloved hand.

"Let me know when you're ready to talk," he said and walked up the front path and

into the B&B.

When he got to his room and checked his phone, he had two text messages from

Liam, one each from Ryan and Breanna, and three missed calls regarding the land deal in

Palm Springs. Colin sighed, dropped his coat onto a chair, sat down on the bed, and

prioritized everyone who was on his ass.

He thought about calling Liam, then decided he'd rather remove his own appendix.

Instead, he called Ryan—the calmer, more rational brother. Ryan could relay the

information to the rest of the family, thus saving Colin from having to deal with Liam's

angry, blustery bullshit.

It was a good plan.

Ryan picked up on the second ring, and Colin gave him the short version: Drew had

at first, claimed that he wanted nothing to do with the Delaneys or their money, but had

wavered when he'd heard the figure.

"Well, I can't say I blame him for being pissed," Ryan said. "If I suddenly found out

Dad wasn't my father, I guess I'd have questions." Ryan's mild understatement made

Colin smile.

"Yeah, I get that, too. He'll come around, though."

"I guess he will," Ryan agreed.

They chatted some about what Colin planned to do next, and how Ryan would pass

the information along to the others. Colin asked after Breanna and the boys.

When all of that was dispensed with, Ryan said, "It's a hell of a thing. Redmond, I

mean. I sure didn't see this coming."

"None of us did," Colin said.

"Why do you suppose he thought he couldn't tell us?" Ryan asked the question that

had been on Colin's mind, and likely on everyone else's, too.

"Hell, I wish I knew," Colin said.

And now, with Redmond gone, he probably never would.